posted on April 20, 2001 09:02:58 PM new
since ebay is advertising against us with half.com so they can get more money off us (15% instead of 5%) do you think ebay will eventually become as deserted as yahoo auctions have???
posted on April 20, 2001 10:07:12 PM new
I buy & sell on both eBay and Half. Half is great for buyers but not so great for sellers - especially now that they're trying to get sellers to absorb insurance, delivery confirm or other costs. Margins are already squeezed to the breaking point.
My guess is that Half is most vulnerable to seller desertions, some to eBay, some to Amazon, some to general apathy ("What? The item I listed two years ago sold? I think I threw it out during the move"
As for eBay, they're getting the same bad advice as Yahoo: Make more money upfront regardless of whether an item sells or Wall Street will come down on you. Ebay is betting they can hold onto pricing power through market share domination (the stick approach rather than the carrot).
